One of the unusual foods Mr. Wilmsen encountered -- seahorses on a stick.
By Danielle Walsh, LaPorte Community Schools soon-to-be-5th grader
Remember when I wrote an article about Mr. Wilmsen (Kesling Middle School principal) going to China? Well, here’s some more about his trip!
Bill Wilmsen
He said he had TONS of fun and saw 12 major landmarks! His favorite moment was standing on top of The Great Wall of China viewing the scenery. It took him 13 hours to get to Beijing and one hour to fly to Shenyang to stay near Mr. Guan’s school. Mr. Guan came to LaPorte last fall on the principal exchange program.
Mr. Wilmsen said he met a ton of people and tried new and kind of weird foods! The only foods Mr. Wilmsen liked were sweet and sour chicken, some beef dishes and McDonald’s fries! He ate breakfast and lunch at the schools and went out to dinner every night.
He said everyone was very nice to him, and he stayed in a very fancy hotel. He said all the food was very healthy and fresh, plus they walked a lot. He said he went to so many places and went into many shops. He went to China with two suitcases, but came home with four because they gave him so many gifts!
He said that he did not see many animals except for dogs. He said China has a lot of pollution, but they do recycle. There is always construction, lots of trash and you can’t take a drink of water without worrying because the water is not clean. His translator’s name was Ann, and he needed her a lot, but once in a while he could just talk to someone in English.
At the schools, their books were way smaller than ours, and they learn about the same as us, but they do a bit more advanced science.
Author Danielle Walsh
He played ping-pong and basketball with the students and got creamed! He got a signed ping-pong paddle, a signed handball, a school shirt and a uniform.
Mr. Wilmsen said it was AWESOME to be in China. But he said we are lucky how we live in the United States and to have what we have, because life isn’t so easy for an average person in China. It was an experience he will never forget and our class felt lucky he shared it with us!
I would like to thank WNLP for the opportunity to be a reporter.
DANIELLE WALSH was among the WNLP reporters in Mrs. Lynne Wahlstrom’s fourth-grade class during the past year. We thank all of them for their hard work and fun stories, and hope to bring you more stories by young reporters in the coming school year.
Bill Wilmsen took this shot of the bathroom at Beijing Airport.
